Big & Rich have signed on to headline Baptist Hospital Foundation’s Rock the Cradle benefit to support babies born at Baptist Hospital and the Beaman Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. The show, which is presented by the Academy of Country Music and co-chaired by Connie Bradley and Troy Tomlinson, is set for Oct. 25 at the Loveless Barn.

“The Baptist Hospital Foundation is here to help the hospital’s tiniest patients and their families by minimizing the emotional and financial stress they often face while in our care,” said Audra Davis, director of the Baptist Hospital Foundation, in a statement. “Proceeds from Rock the Cradle will make a difference by allowing us to assist with unique and critical needs.”

A cocktail reception and dinner is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. with performances to follow at 8 p.m.

Table sponsorships are available and include dinner, cocktail reception, tickets for the performance and other benefits, and range from $1,000 to $5,000. Individual tickets are $250. For more information visit www.RockTheCradleNashville.com or call 615-284-2569.

Big Kenny Alphin kicked off the Xtreme Muzik Tour date at The Woods Amphitheater at Fontanel on Friday with a bang, or rather a jump.

Alphin, alongside Shaun Meadows, a double amputee Afghanistan combat veteran, skydived into the venue landing in one of Fontanel’s expansive fields. Big Kenny took the stage with John Rich, duo partner in Big & Rich, and Gretchen Wilson a couple of hours later for a hit-infused action-packed show that had the audience on its feet all night.

Big & Rich and Wilson swapped the spotlight with Big & Rich taking turns with hits and fan favorites including new single “Fake I.D.,” No. 1 hit “Lost in This Moment,” “Love Train” and “Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy).” Wilson got people on their feet with “All Jacked Up,” “Homewrecker,” “Here for the Party” and a cover of John Prine’s “Angel from Montgomery.”

However, the entertainers weren’t finished with Meadows yet. Rich, Wilson, and Alphin invited Meadows, whose legs have been replaced with metal rods, and his family on stage and surprised them when a new home. The home, valued at more than $300,000 and built to meet the veteran’s specific needs, is projected to be finished in six months.

Big & Rich, Wilson and their managers, who own Fontanel, donated all proceeds from the show to help fund the home, which is a joint venutre with charity Operation Finally Home, Goodall Homes, and LP Building Products.

“This is as good as it gets,” Alphin said from the stage. “I couldn’t be more excited than to be standing here thanking this community for making this possible.”

Big & Rich and Gretchen Wilson perform at the CMT Music Awards in June 2011 in Nashville. (photo: Larry McCormack/File/The Tennessean)

Gretchen Wilson walks to the stage every night. John Rich rides his golf cart, even if he’s just 20 feet away. Big Kenny Alphin pulls on his top hat, climbs on his Segway and takes off as his feathers flap in the breeze.

Wilson laughs that the way each of them gets to the stage is representative of their vastly different personalities. And while there’s been much gossip about friction between Big Kenny and John Rich of country duo Big & Rich, Wilson says there’s been nothing but big smiles and even bigger audiences since the trio kicked off their co-headlining Xtreme Muzik Tour earlier this year.

“It’s been even more fun than we thought it would be,” she says. “But if I were an outsider looking in, I would think, ‘What a weird, motley bunch right there.’ ”

But it’s also a successful one: The leading forces of country music’s MuzikMafia movement a decade ago, Wilson has sold 9 million albums and Big & Rich has sold more than 5 million. And the Redneck Woman is taking credit for reconnecting Big Kenny and John Rich and getting the tour, which will be at the Woods Amphitheater at Fontanel on Friday, on the road.

The financial contribution comes as part of the ACM Lifting Lives Entertainer of the Year Matching Gift program. Lifting Lives teams up with the year's reigning top entertainer -- currently Swift -- and doubles a gift that musician makes to the charity of their choice. Swift contributed $25,000, and Lifting Lives matched.

ACM Lifting Lives executive director Erin Spahn met up with Swift Saturday at her sold-out Speak Now tour stop in Detroit, and the two checks headed for St. Jude met up.

Click to see a gallery of Saturday night CMA Music Festival performers (this image of Martina McBride and Lauren Alaina: Larry McCormack/The Tennessean).

Night three of the 2011 CMA Music Festival brought another mix of country's biggest names in front of a sold-out crowd. An LP Field play-by-play:

8:02 p.m. -- Chris Young kicked off the LP Field show with his smooth baritone, a huge smile and energy to spare Saturday evening -- the eve of his 26th birthday. Young’s set included his chart-toppers “Gettin’ You Home” and “Voices,” his current Top 10 “Tomorrow” and new song “Save Water, Drink Beer” from his July 12 release Neon.

He had the sold-out crowd on their feet from the moment he walked out — but it wasn’t smooth sailing on everyone’s part. Actress Kristin Chenoweth introduced Young as the winner of the first season of Nashville Star, but fans in the audience quickly corrected her mistake; he won the fourth season.

8:30 p.m. -- Little Big Town shook things up a bit when they took the stage Saturday night, applying their signature, spot-on harmonies not only to their own hits -- including “A Little More You,” “Little White Church” and “Boondocks” -- but also to a bluegrass version of Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way,” complete with standing bass and banjo.Continue reading →

Like the thousands of country music fans in town this weekend for the CMA Music Festival, HLN anchor Robin Meade had to use her vacation days to come to Nashville, too. The difference is she’s not standing in line to see country stars; fans are standing in line to see her.

Meade, who is host of the HLN show Morning Express With Robin Meade, is a budding country music singer and is at the festival promoting her new album, Brand New Day, which is on sale at her Fan Fair Exhibit Hall booth and will be at iTunes and in Target Stores June 21.

Fans can get a preview of the music Sunday — she’s performing at the Lays Stage in front of Bridgestone Arena at 11:45 a.m.-12:10 p.m. To get a glimpse of her onstage, check out the video above for footage of her singing in Nashville last year.

“I’m looking forward to that,” Meade says. “Even in the midday sun, I hear the crowd is fantastic.”Continue reading →

Big Kenny, Gretchen Wilson and John Rich at the CMT Music Awards on Wednesday (photo: Samuel M. Simpkins/The Tennessean).

Big & Rich walked the CMT Music Awards’ red carpet Wednesday night with new tourmate Gretchen Wilson and were so excited about touring and recording together again that they erupted into song. Their choice? An abbreviated, gregarious version of Buck Owens’ “Together Again.”

Wilson broke up the impromptu concert with talk of the tour, saying: “It’s going to be a party everywhere we go.”

When asked about Big & Rich’s new single “Fake I.D.,” which they performed on the awards show, Big Kenny and John Rich just couldn’t help themselves — they broke into song again for a preview of the new single. And they should be excited, as it’s the duo’s first new single in more than three years.

"We have all tried to break into a bar to see 'that band,'" John Rich said, talking about the single. "We hope people are trying to break in to see our show. It’s all in good fun, but it’s so American to be a little rebellious. The song just thumps. Let's play it again."

Newly crowned Apprentice champ John Rich and his business partner Charlie Pennachio discovered traditional-sounding country voice Bradley Gaskin on MySpace. Rich invited the Alabama native to Nashville to participate in his talent search in 2008, signed him to a publishing deal, helped him land a record deal and co-produced his album with Pennachio. On Thursday, Rich got in on the filming of Gaskin’s first video, for debut single “Mr. Bartender.”

Gaskin is still reeling from the excitement.

“It still takes my breath away to know a song I wrote back in 2005 is at country radio and now we’re making a video,” says the up-and-comer, who used to work hanging drywall. “It was a long day and real exciting.”

Rich plays a bartender in Gaskin’s video, and Gaskin says he couldn’t professionally appreciate anyone more than he appreciates Rich.

“A lot of people who were less successful than John wanted to change me, and he didn’t,” Gaskin says. “Nobody ever took a chance on me and John did. I found praying real hard and dreaming are what makes things work out. That’s all I’ve ever done. I found out there ain’t nothing impossible.”

Going above and beyond their Celebrity Apprentice responsibilities, contestants Meat Loaf, Lil Jon and Mark McGrath and their season's champ John Rich have combined their musical talents to record a new single called “Stand In The Storm.”

The four artists, who worked together on the show's Team Backbone, will donate 100 percent of the single's proceeds to their four chosen Celebrity Apprentice charities: The Painted Turtle (Meat Loaf), St. Jude Children's Research Hospital (John Rich), The United Methodist Children's Home of North Georgia Conference (Lil Jon) and Save The Music Foundation (Mark McGrath).

The single is described as a “hard-rockin’ hybrid of rock, pop, country, and hip-hop (showcasing) the individual strengths and styles of the four musicians.”